Shanghai 2010 - Lujiazui and BaBaoBan

Today, we went to Lujiazui (downtown Pudong) before stopping at BaBaoBan for lunch - an incredibly fiery mouth-numbing Sichuan meal.



Things haven't changed much since the last time I went there, but then again that was only 2 years ago.

Shanghai 2010: Chongming Island and Hairy Crab stirfried with Rice Cake

Mom bought bus tickets for us to visit Chongming Island, off the coast of Shanghai. It's this tiny little island that has always been more rural than the rest of the city, and my grandfather even worked there for a bit during the Communist Revolution. The good thing is that, although most of the local streets are still underdeveloped, a lot of the countryside has been converted into recreational parks and natural preserves. I thought it was cool how the Chinese government is starting to care more about the face of Mother Nature. My aunt just thinks they're trying to cheat the foreigners of their money.

China 2010: Rushan Road Wet Market

My grandfather and my mom's sister live in Pudong, Shanghai on Rushan Road. The place pretty much exemplifies the new face of local Shanghai - much cleaner for sure, but still down to earth and nothing like the white picket-fenced suburbs of America. You can find all sorts of xiaochi or "little eats" at amazing prices (soon to be updated), but the best part, in my opinion, is the open-air wet market.

China 2010: Shanghai Carrefour Bakery

So I know that technically this belongs in the last post, but there's so many pictures of the bakery section that I figured it deserved its very own post. Unlike Western buns, most Chinese breads are steamed, often with interesting fillings or shapes like these. They are called baozi.

China 2010: Carrefour

My parents and I took a trip to China throughout late March and most of April in celebration of my release from undergrad (they always get so frustrated because my school schedule has prevented almost any chance of a family vacation for the past 4 years). We met my mom (who got there earlier) at Shanghai Pudong Airport after 13 hours (and about 4 movies) on the plane. Although it was dinner-time, the jetlag and bad airplane food was enough to kill our appetites, so we just went to the local Carrefour outside our apartment to buy some food for the next day's meals.

Carrefour is a culinary phenomenon that is unfortunately absent from the U.S. HQ-ed in France and known as an hypermarche, it's spread around the world and is pretty much what it sounds like - a supermarket on steroids. It's pretty fun in there if you're a foodie, and if you're not careful, you can even get lost.